UFC.com reports that UFC Women’s bantamweight champion Amanda ‘The Lioness’ Nunes was honored this weekend at the annual Equality California Awards in Los Angeles, where she was presented with the 2016 Equality Visibility Award. Nunes accepted the award alongside her girlfriend and training partner, UFC strawweight Nina Ansaroff.
Each year EQCA’s Equality Awards honor leaders and outstanding allied organizations whose work helps create a more fair and just society. Among California’s premier gala events, attendants regularly include leaders of the LGBT equality movement, and leaders from the business, nonprofit, civic and political landscapes.
When people find out how strong and powerful love is, then this world will be a better place,” said Amanda during her acceptance speech. I want to see this happen one day. I’m going to do everything I can to support this community with a positive presence by sharing my love and showing everyone that I’m happy. My dream has come true and I want to share this with everyone and help a lot of people be themselves. I’m going to keep doing it until the world is better.
Nunes vaulted into the spotlight when she made history at UFC 200, quickly dispatching former champion Miesha Tate in an upset victory that earned her UFC gold. The successful culmination of Nunes’ championship run made her the first openly gay UFC athlete to win a championship belt, as well as the first female Brazilian champion in UFC history.
We’re incredibly proud of Amanda and how she lives and breathes the UFC maxim that We Are All Fighters, said Ike Lawrence Epstein, UFC Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. As UFC champ, Amanda is a visible figure in the sports world, so her dedication to living authentically is an inspiration to millions of fans around the world. She continues to demonstrate courage both inside and outside of the Octagon, and that’s what makes her a truly great champion.
Nunes has served as an unofficial ambassador of UFC’s We Are All Fighters initiative, which celebrates the fighter in all of us. The program acknowledges how everyone fights every day to overcome challenges large and small, and is designed to make a meaningful impact and raise awareness for individuals and communities fighting for equality. Amanda can frequently be seen wearing the rainbow-colored We Are All Fighters shirt that raises money and awareness for LGBT community organizations.
